


ten, twenty-five, a hundred lifetimes

by NikitaHawkeye



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, au galore, sssnippetaday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:00:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25012018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikitaHawkeye/pseuds/NikitaHawkeye
Summary: ...until I find the one where you'll return to me.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	ten, twenty-five, a hundred lifetimes

**Author's Note:**

> (title and summary from 25 lives by tongari.)
> 
> originally posted as #sssnippetaday on twitter.

**i. as villains**

“like what you see?” his head whipped around, his eyes wide as he reached for his glock—

—but she was faster, and in a matter of seconds they were both faced with the cold barrels of each others’ preferred sidearms.

“it seems i was right, cognac. you are not who you seemed to be.”

“and so are you, marsala." his lips stretched into a thin smile. “immortality?”

she smiled back, her feral grin growing by the second. “how much do you know?”

* * *

**ii. touch me not**

"could i forget you?"

sasuke paced around the azotea, hand gripping a dried sage leaf as he eyed her warily.

"the cyclamen outside my room in europe reminded me of your hair every morning, and the green of your eyes were everywhere i looked. i could never."

* * *

**iii. a miserable little pile of secrets**

"mama would not want this. she would want you to spare the humans—"

"and where is she now? dead. burned in a stake by the very same humans she loved so much."

"one of us has to honor her wishes, papa."

"i will annihilate them all. don't get in my way, sarada."

* * *

**iv. as thieves**

sasuke blinked, eyes drowsily following the pink-haired thief around. "fine women like you always kept their word, huh?"

"but i'm not a fine woman, sasuke-kun," she tittered, hand swiftly clasping a handcuff around his wrist, "i'm an extraordinarily fine woman."

**v.**

the woman called haruno sakura. thief. extraordinarily fine woman.

now delirious in his room, with absolutely no memory of who she is or what she's done in the past.

sasuke reached for a lock of hair. "feel better soon. i look forward to your betrayals."

* * *

**vi. endgame**

freedom or justice?

sasuke wished he didn't have to choose, not with her gone and on the run, her star-spangled shield collecting dust on the corner of the room along with his forgotten iron suit.

she's one call away, her note said. somehow he didn't doubt that.

**vii.**

"everything special about you came from a bottle."

but futurist sasuke had never been so wrong, as haruno sakura stood valiantly, glowing as she wielded the mjolnir single-handedly as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

pride welled in his chest.

**viii.**

whatever it takes.

that was the last thing in sasuke's mind when he slipped the gauntlet on, hand trembling as his fingers formed a halting snap.

when sakura realized what was happening, she was already a second too late.

* * *

**ix. sic parvis magna**

"you found me."

"i just followed the sweet sound of lies and explosions."

sasuke winced as she bandaged his arm tightly.

"i thought i was protecting you, sakura. i'm sorry."

"no right whatsoever. but hey, for better or worse, right?"

"for better or worse."

**x.**

their torch eventually crumbled, leaving them with a dim light in the middle of the cave.

sasuke cursed their luck.

"some romantic lighting we have here."

"anyone ever told you, you have a funny idea of romantic?"

sakura chuckled. "i married you, didn't i?"

**xi.**

sakura said "i do" to a life of raiding tombs and looting uncharted islands.

no more protests, she promised. instead: "it's your turn to do the laundry tomorrow. don't you dare think of not coming back."

two fingers flicked her forehead as a reply.

* * *

**xii. nine nine**

"you know, i could send the forensic report to your department, officer uchiha. you don't have to come down here everytime you need one."

"i know. how do you feel about italian food?"

"splendid. but—"

"okay. see you at 7."

the report lay forgotten on her desk.

**xiii.**

"oh. wow. i—"

"deep breaths, sakura."

"—don't know what to say! you just asked me! to meet your parents! in front of mister—huh—john doe here!"

sasuke kicked the mortuary cabinet to let mr. john doe rest in peace. "please don't make this weird."

* * *

**xiv. baby driver**

they call her "baby."

his getaway driver is a pink-haired lady who always had airpods stuck in her ears. he's unimpressed.

but as she maneuvered like hell through tokyo traffic to get him out of a heist gone wrong, sasuke swore never to doubt "baby" ever again.

**xv.**

"where to?"

baby had the steering wheel and his heart in her hands, their future waiting for them two blocks ahead, and yet...

more police mobiles closed in on them, and sasuke still foolishly hoped for her hands to pull off another miracle, one last time.

* * *

**xvi. arranged marriage**

"so, no more divorce?"

sakura looked at the husband her parents forced on her, then briefly wondered how she could ever think of leaving him when the month is done.

"no more. congratulations. you may now kiss the bride."

* * *

**xvii. turncoat**

"how compromised?"

but sasuke knew exactly how much: tangled limbs, satin sheets, and forgotten warrants still burned at the back of her mind.

she swallowed, her badge digging in her palms. "if it were up to me, i would be miles away from this operation."

**xviii.**

she opened the dossier, breath becoming more hitched as her eyes landed on the encircled photograph at the corner.

the raven hair, the perfect face.

it was sasuke, and she knew she should have seen this coming but...

"take him in. dead or alive."

**xix.**

sabateur. arms dealer. interpol's most elusive red notice.

she had him cornered, her team behind her back, and there was only one thing left to do...

"what are you doing, haruno? shoot him!"

her thumb flicked the safety down, shoulders sagging in defeat.

* * *

**xx. wonder**

photos of her never-aging face, ranging from the 40s to the present, splayed out on the desk.

one stood out in particular: a battlefield, her in a red and gold armor, throwing a panzer with her two bare hands. 

"fine. you got me. what do you want, mr. uchiha?"

**xxi.**

"i forgot to ask," sakura testily stretched her lasso, then hooked the end around his wrist swiftly. "what's your deal?"

"deal?"

"abilities. powers."

sasuke stopped walking, then plucked a bat-shaped dagger out of his armani suit.

"I'm rich."

* * *

**xxii. you remind me of the babe**

everything about him was tempting: the orb, the face, the promises.

moments of gold, valentine evenings... and he asked for what, in return? love him, fear him, do as he says?

sakura looked at the goblin king's face one last time.

"you have no power over me."

**xxiii.**

"i move the stars for no one."

and yet he pushed the hands of the clock to her advantage, left little crumbs of hope for her victory, then offered her power of unimaginable amount.

under all his pretenses, sasuke just wanted her to choose _him_.

* * *

**xxiv. mummy?**

"papa, please."

"ask your mother."

"she'll say no."

"precisely, sarada."

"you guys used to raid pyramids back in the day. what's the worst i can get from exploring a sunken nazi u-boat?"

"death, an international arrest warrant, or a very angry mother."

"pa!"

* * *

**xxv. on stranger tides**

"is this another one of your "truths that are lies" shtick, sakura?"

she eyed the lace on his wrist. "the other way around, captain."

"you lost me," sasuke fiddled with the glinting ring on her finger, "but for what it's worth, i may have loved you too."

**xxvi.**

"i'd love to do that again— swashbuckling, red wines, slow dances under the moon of tetsu no kuni—"

"that was ame, sasuke. i tried to kill you in tetsu."

"—but we both know it's not too long until you turn your sword on me again. time to get off my ship, sakura."

* * *

**xxvii. promises written on water**

before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

but as he pulled the trigger, sasuke wondered what exactly it is that he'll be burying with itachi: his own damned soul, or the future he could have had with her?

there is no difference, he decided.

**xxviii.**

"i won't say forgive me," then "expect to find my corpse soon," then "try to catch me again someday."

none of those happened. years later, they stood on equal ground, no threats of incarceration hanging between them.

"i'm here now. i'm sorry, sakura."

* * *

**xxix. do androids dream of electric sheep?**

all part of the business, he tells her as he ignored the tremors all over his body after his last kill.

replicants, so adept at copying human emotions, and yet guilt ate him alive when she cried.

"i am not part of the business, uchiha-san. i am the business."

* * *

**xxx. finally**

"the angels, not half so happy in heaven, went envying her and me—"

waves crashed against the shore, and sasuke thought this must be her way of drowning out the next lines, despite it being her favorite poem.

uchiha sakura. mother, wife, friend, the stone said.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you had fun trying to guess what the aus were.


End file.
